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word List to Vocab Flashcards

Is there a quick way to convert a word list into a flashcard file? My desire is to create a flashcard file from the Daily Light devotional every day, review the vocab, and then translate later in the day.

I created an Excel macro that turns a word list into a vocab file. All in all it takes about 3 minutes from start to finish. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a way of doing it more in-house.

Excel File

I don't mind posting it at all. there are a couple of special things you have to do to make this work. the instructions below look longer then they actually are.

1. Copy the references line at the bottom of the Daily Light Devos.
2. Open the Word list manager and select "Load or Generate".
3. Paste the references into "Verse Range Box." Remove the number at the beginning of the references and all OT references.
4. Set the Version to BNM w/ Morphology
5. Check "Keep Greek Accents", the other two unchecked.

6. Select File>Export to Text File. Select One file that you will always export it to, e.g. "current Daily Light.txt". I have found that even after selecting "Export to Text" you have to include .txt in the file name or it will save it as an rtf. If you save it as C:\Program Files\BibleWorks 8\ase\Daily Light Export.txt you should be able to avoid step 7 as that is what excel is set up for.

7. this step should only need to be done once assuming you always export the wordlist to the same file. You need to connect the data on the "Import Table" worksheet to the file you created. I'm not sure about Excel 2003 but in 2007 select Data>Connections>Properties>Definition and select the file you created to connect it to.
8. select the add-in tab(make sure macros are enabled)>Create Flash Card>Update Flash File
Go back to bibleworks, open the vocab flashcard module and file>import the file you created (I have it set up to save to C:\Program Files\BibleWorks 8\init\yyyymmdd Daily Light Vocab.vrt which can be changed if you jump into the macro, Module 1)

Copy Verses (No Text)

In my quest to simplify this process I realized you could export the verses to the search window and copy the search window verses without text. then you could paste the clipboard into the word list range. I ran into a wall though when the text that was pasted had a period after every book.

It would be nice in the formatting options for copy verses without text to be able to exclude the period after the book name. There are already options to set the verse, reference, and chapter dividers. How difficult would it be to add a option to remove the period? Yeah...another little thing to worry about

Book names export settings

You can change the exported book names by going to Tools | Options | Bible Versions | Book Names. Notice the "Export" field in this this window. These are the book names that are exported when you export the "verse list (no text)".

These settings are contained within the books.bna file (by default). You can use the Open button to open other supplied book name files. You can also save the current file to a different name and use it as your default bookname file. Then you can edit the Export field in your file to eliminate the period after the export abbreviations. Double-click on the name in the "Def" column to open each name to edit it.

I don't suggest editing the books.bna file, as future BibleWorks updates may overwrite that file, and you would loose your changes.

Changing Book Names

thanks for the advise. I have already created an easy way to do this in my excel file so I'll probably just stick with it. Down the road I'm sure I'd want to revert back to the old book names and i would probably spend too much time trying to figure it out!

Exporting book names

Originally Posted by Glenn Weaver

You can change the exported book names by going to Tools | Options | Bible Versions | Book Names. Notice the "Export" field in this this window.

It would be nice to have some common book abbreviations as menu options; for example SBL [w/o periods], Chicago Manual of Style, etc. Then you could pick the set that fits what you're writing at the moment. As it is, I edited all mine to SBL, and if someone wants something else for house editorial style, I edit in the manuscript itself.

Making it easier

For anyone else looking to created a vocabulary file from the Daily Light NT Greek verses I found a way to do it without using Word Lists or Excel. If someone mentioned how to do this I apologize for missing it :-) I did use some of the advise given so thanks!

If you are interested in doing this and want to know the steps let me know and I'll spell them out.